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Nominations for Sinn Féin Leas-Uachtarán open tomorrow – Kearney

Sinn Féin National Chairperson Declan Kearney MLA announced today that the Sinn Féin Special Ard Fheis on February 10th will elect a new party Leas-Uachtarán.

Declan Kearney said:

“The nomination process to elect a new Uachtarán Shinn Féin closed on Friday 19th January and Mary Lou McDonald has been overwhelmingly endorsed by the party membership to succeed Gerry Adams.

“As a consequence of Mary Lou McDonald’s nomination for Uachtarán the Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle met yesterday and decided to open the process to fill the vacancy for party Leas-Uachtarán at the forthcoming Special Ard Fheis.

“The nomination process for Leas-Uachtarán will be open from 9am tomorrow, Monday 22 January until Monday 29th.

“This is an exciting time for Irish republicans with the nomination of Mary Lou McDonald the clearest signal to date that the process of renewal and regeneration of the party is now well under way.

“The election at the Special Ard Fheis of a Leas-Uachtarán to succeed Mary Lou McDonald will build on the political momentum which has resulted in over half a million people voting for our party, and to deliver, in government, the type of real change which they are demanding.

“2018 will be a challenging year for the Irish people.

“This week fresh efforts begin to restore the northern political institutions. Sinn Féin is committed to achieving a positive outcome in order to ensure the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement will represent a new positive point in the history of our island.

“As we move closer to a General Election in the South a step change in the southern state is also needed.

“The complete failure of the Irish government to deal with the crisis in health and housing is intolerable.

“Sinn Féin with a new Uachtarán and Leas-Uachtarán will face into the next general election offering the electorate an opportunity to elect a new government committed to tackling these crises properly.

“We will also continue to deal with the challenges posed by Brexit and build support for designated special status for the North within the EU, as the only realistic alternative to the British Tory plan to deliver a hard Brexit border.

“We now look forward to another truly historic Ard Fheis and a healthy and democratic campaign to elect the next Leas Uachtarán Shinn Féin.”